Coppermine Photo Gallery

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Photos of my first time in Taiwan from August 2003 to December 2003. I spent my time there teaching English for the first time, and apart from a couple of visits to some South Pacific islands in the 1980s, this was my first time overseas, and my first time in the northern hemisphere. Being my first time in Asia, I was subjected to a major dose of "culture shock" for the first two months, where I had great difficulty adjusting to the new and alien environment. But after two months I adjusted, and in the school where I taught, I met my future wife Sonia. She was the school director, and while she was Taiwanese, she also had dual Australian citizenship, having lived, worked and studied in Perth for more than 12 years. With her, in my brief four month stay, I saw much of the south of Taiwan. Perhaps the pinnacle of all the sights was the Ali Shan mountain railway, one of the three most famous mountain rail trips in the world. Taiwan, while only half the size of Tasmania, has mountains almost reaching to 4000 metres above sea level, and Ali Shan is higher than Australia's highest mountain Kosciusko! In the end, I had to return to Australia way ahead of the end of my 14 month teaching contract due to my Dad's health. However, eight months later, I would be off to teach in Poland, my Dad's birthplace.